Edward meets Bella
by jesslvtwi
Summary: Edward Masen moves to Forks High School and sees the girl of his dreams, Isabella Cullen. Problem is, she's a vampire, so she keeps her distance. Can he do enough to make her love him? Please read. :
1. Moving Away

With a farewell glance to my mother and step-father, I stepped out into the warm sun. Phoenix was so beautiful; the air was warm and _tasted _warm. It reminded me of stepping off a plane into a hot country. How could I go from beautiful sun to hideous cloudy days? The idea had haunted me ever since I'd made my decision. I consider myself to be pretty well attuned to people's thoughts, and I knew how much my mother wanted to travel. Living in Phoenix was her attempt to live a care-free life, but it just wasn't enough for her. Up until she met Paul, she put up with it and stuck around, for me. Paul came into her life, and she was instantly besotted. As for me, I'd never really found anyone that vaguely interested me. I just wasn't looking for a partner; I wasn't looking for a girl to be mine. I wanted to do right by my family and my friends and I settled for that. Paul wanted to travel, just like my mother, and so I couldn't stand in the way of it anymore. She insisted I come travelling with her but I knew that wouldn't work.

"I can go and stay with dad," I'd reminded her.  
"You don't have to do that for me," she'd replied, but I'd already made up my mind. I was independent; I didn't mind doing this for her.

I got on a plane to the drizzly, miserable, horrible town of Forks. There was no point even _attempting _to be optimistic about Forks because, quite frankly, it sucked. I hadn't visited my dad here in so long because it made me feel just as miserable. When I called my dad, Mark, to tell him I was coming to stay, he seemed really happy. He wasn't much of a people person but he and I had always bonded quite well over things such as arts and sports.

Mark was waiting for me at the airport, in a small white car. He used this when he was off duty from being a fireman. I got in unwillingly and shot a glance at the red cherry light he had stuffed in the car in case there was an emergency. I laughed quietly to myself, nothing bad happened in Forks, ever. Mark threw me a wary look but I just shook my head. My father, a man of few words, let it go straight away.

We pulled up to the house, and I had to give it to my dad, he knew how to decorate. It was a small brick house but it looked homey, cottage like. It fit in the small town perfectly, but it belonged in a world of sunshine. It wasn't quite right under black clouds. Just as I had that thought, I heard thunder.

_Great, _I thought. Although storms were to be expected, I grimaced as rain started falling, and ran into my small house, trying not to think about how much I hated it.

Mark left me alone in my room, small and blue, with a desk and a guitar perched in the corner. I was glad that he had remembered we'd bonded over music, and thought this addition must have been to strengthen that.  
Left alone with my thoughts, eventually my thoughts got as sad as my surroundings. I was worrying about starting a new school. It was so small, the entire pupil number being the same size as just one class in my old school. I was sure that people had gossiped about me, a miserable new boy coming from a big, hot city, moping around because he didn't want to be there. Who would like me? I've got to be honest; if I heard the gossip I wouldn't like me. I gave up thinking about that, hoping that some people would give me a break, reaching for my guitar. I started to play a tune, making it up as I went along. It sounded romantic, but that definitely wasn't something inspired by someone. I had never had romantic interest in anyone and was pretty sure I wouldn't until a much later stage of my life.


	2. Girl of My Dreams

I woke up, weary from hardly sleeping. I'd spent the night worrying about fitting in. I wasn't actually bothered about making friends as such, but I didn't want to be the object of attention.

I went downstairs to find Mark wasn't around. I chucked some bread in the toaster and heard a familiar voice call me.

"Edward?" my dad called. I followed his voice to my front garden.

"Yeah, dad?"

"I hope you don't mind, but I bought you a little car. I can't take you to school every day in case I'm on duty," he said to me.

My eyes wandered then, seeing a small black Ford. It wasn't anything to show off but it was nice enough, and an incredibly nice gesture. "Of course I don't mind!" I said politely to Mark. "Thank you so much."

He smiled and waved as he left for work. The fire station was only five minutes from our house. I got ready for school, pulling on a checked shirt and dark jeans, and climbed into my new car. It smelt a little, and the engine sounded like it struggled a bit, but I was content. That is, until I thought of school.

_Push it out of your head. _I told myself. _No one is going to be that bad. Calm down. _

I arrived at school, conveniently parking close to the reception area. It was brighter than I had expected, staff members had obviously decorated it accordingly to try and make people feel more welcome. It would take a lot of effort in a gloomy town like this. A red haired receptionist looked me up and down and then murmured quite rudely. "May I help you?" So much for the welcoming atmosphere.

"Yes, I'm Edward Masen," I told her. Her face seemed to brighten, becoming more polite. It made me think that staff had probably been joining in on gossip too in this small town. I wondered why she didn't realise that I was Mark's son before, did I looked differently to how she'd imagined? A few seconds had gone by and she was still rummaging in a drawer.

"Here you go, dear," she said quietly, handing me a large envelope. "Inside there's a class schedule, a map, a reading list and a calendar."

"Thanks," I said, as politely as I could manage, but I wasn't thankful for all this, not really. I didn't want to start anew. I thought about my mother and made myself try to be optimistic, so as to not ruin her plans.

My day started off rather well. When I left the reception area a couple of students had approached me.

"I'm Eric, and this is Jessica," the boy said to me, with a warm smile on his face. The girl smiled too, but it was more timid. I wondered why. Eric was tall, with jet black hair and Jessica had wild curls and a young, rounded face. I tried to commit their faces and their names to memory as they spoke to me. They gave me a rough outline of Forks high school and accompanied me to my classes. The tall over-friendly boy, Eric, was in my first few classes, loyally sitting with me, though I wasn't sure whether it was to be friendly to me or help his own status. The girl, Jessica, was also in my classes, along with a couple of other students, Mike and Angela, that she'd introduced me to, but Jessica didn't make an effort to sit with me. She blushed when she got too close, I wondered why. I didn't think I'd ever been the object of attention for females, not that it would have made a difference anyway.

School dragged on, in a slow but interesting enough manner.

I walked to the cafeteria with Eric and Mike, eyes wide as I took in the unappealing look of the food available. I took just a slice of pizza and followed Mike to a table in the centre of the room.

The boys were talking about the sports available at Forks High School. I was just about to join in, as this was a subject that actually interested me, but when my eyes wandered, my mouth let out a gasp instead of talking to the people next to me.

Mike, looking confused, stared at me.

"Dude, you okay?" he said quietly.

I could hardly hear what he was saying. There was nothing that held my interest except the five beautiful figures entering through the back door. I would have thought I was dreaming or that I'd died and gone to heaven, but I couldn't bring myself to pull a memory of pain or fatigue. I made myself tear my eyes away from them for a second to look at my table, and sure enough all my new school friends were sat there. This wasn't a dream or heaven, so how could they be so beautiful? There were two boys and three girls. One boy was huge, scary looking, though his face was delicate and attractive with dimples. He held the hand of a stunning blonde girl. She was so statuesque, she looked better than anyone I'd ever seen, models and actresses, a hundred times better. The other male was blonde with wary eyes. He was tall and more slender, his hand reaching out to another girl. She was short, with short black pixie hair and angel features. The last girl didn't hold onto anyone. She was also the most beautiful person I had ever seen, more beautiful than my mind could have ever imagined. It was unbearable how stunning she was. She was average height, slim, her body was perfect. She had dark brown hair; it was shiny and thick and fell to her waist. It looked soft…

Just as my imagination went into overdrive, the beautiful girl's head snapped up and her eyes bored into mine. I didn't want to look away but I knew I had to.

Dazed, I turned to Mike.

"Who are they?" I said to him, gesturing slightly with my head to the table they now sat at. He turned and let out a sigh.  
"The Cullens," he said. The name seemed to spark some interest, as Eric, Angela and Jessica also leaned in to join our conversation.

"The big guy is Emmett," I heard Eric attempt to whisper.

"Yeah he's with the blonde girl, she's Rosalie," Jessica added. Then she carried on. "The blonde boy is Jasper, and his, girlfriend I suppose you could call it, that's Alice."

"So weird that they're all like, together. Like they're soul mates," Eric added.

"The other girl?" I said, trying to sound indifferent. Really, I couldn't care more about her compared to the others.

"That's Isabella," Mike said, letting out a sigh. "She's totally gorgeous, right? I mean Eric fainted when he saw her." He laughed.

"Shut up man, you were smitten too. You just stared like a moron every time you saw her. You know she noticed and got freaked out," Eric teased back to Mike. I couldn't listen anymore.

Isabella Cullen. I wanted her so much. The feeling was alien to me; girls had never interested me that much. It felt like my heart had been waiting for her. I know, crazy strong feelings, but I couldn't help it. When I got home that night, I couldn't wait to get to sleep. I think I worried Mark, being so worked up. I fell happily on my small bed, waiting to dream about Isabella Cullen.


	3. English Class

The next day, I made myself think clearly. It was easier once I had gotten some fresh air, and once I'd forgotten the impact of their beauty. Isabella's beauty…

I snapped out of it at once and decided to talk to Mark for a distraction.

"Hey, dad," I said, a little too jittery.

"You okay Edward?" he asked me. Damn, of course my decision would backfire. I may be distracting myself but he wasn't stupid, and now he couldn't be oblivious to how worked up I was.

"Yeah I'm fine," I tried to think of a suitable lie for my behaviour. "Just excited about starting a new school and stuff."

"I didn't think that would cause excitement," Mark said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Um…yeah, maybe it's nerves then," I replied.

"Okay then…" Mark replied, shaking his head.

I got ready in a hurry, a bit too eager to get to school. I pulled on a long grey sweater and my black jeans and headed to my car; pulling out a CD that would distract me by being so loud.

When I pulled into the school parking lot, I forced myself to head straight to my first class, English. I hadn't had any English classes yet, and I really enjoyed reading, so I made myself think about that. A small hand tapped me on the back.

"Hey, Edward," Jessica said as I turned around. She looked a bit more confident today. "Do you have English now?" I realised that she was wearing a lot more make up today. Hmm, how odd. It was concerning to me to think that she might be more confident just because she had on more make up, and it worried me even more to wonder what the extra effort could have been for. I shook my head, removing the thoughts so that I could reply to her.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," I told her honestly.

She gestured for me to make my way and followed closely behind me.

We arrived at the door and Jessica hovered.

"We already got assigned seats, so shall I just see you afterwards?" she informed me. I knew that this was something I'd have to face; joining the school a bit too late in the year. My mother had faith in me; she'd said that I'd be able to catch up.

"Yeah okay Jess," I replied, not really paying attention to her.

I hovered at the teachers' desk, waiting to be given my books and my new seat for the year.

I must have been daydreaming, because I heard my English teacher say my name. I pulled Isabella's face from my mind and looked at him. He didn't look impressed at my distraction.

"Edward Masen," he repeated. "We'll be studying Shakespeare this semester. Here are your books," he said, handing me _A Midsummer Nights Dream _and _Romeo and Juliet. _Two of my favourites, I smiled, realising that my day was starting off very well.

Just then, I caught a glimpse of her. Isabella. How was it possible that anyone could be that beautiful? She was looking out of the window, seemingly bored, but she looked uncomfortable. I wanted to comfort her, stroke her face, make her smile. My English teacher, Mr Stevens, interrupted my thoughts.

"There's one seat left, it'll be yours for the next year."

When I'd said my day was starting off well, I wasn't even close. It was turning into an amazingly good day, because, beautiful Isabella sat beside no one. That desk would be for me. Her head turned in my direction then, but she didn't smile like I'd be craving her to. She looked disappointed. I remembered that all her siblings had been paired up. She could have a boyfriend too; he just might not go to our high school. She could be disappointed because she liked to be alone. I could empathise with that, I found it very comforting to be on my own, unlike most people my age. Although a million explanations for one small expression on a girls face went through my head, I felt hurt. I knew it was ridiculous but I wanted her to enjoy my company. I decided from then on, I would make her like me. I could try to make her love me, but I'd settle for being friends.

As I took my seat, she turned, expression bored, and nodded.

"Hello," I said, purposely very politely and warmly. "I'm Edward Masen." I smiled. "You are?"

"Isabella Cullen," she replied. Her voice was like the sweetest music, I was dazed by it. I should have expected it, though; a harsh voice would never come out of such a beautiful mouth. My ambition to make her smile made me snap out of it and talk to her again.

"Bella, that suits you," I smiled. "Because it means beautiful, right?" Then, she smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was stunning. I gasped quietly, and hoped she hadn't noticed.

"How did you know I prefer to be called Bella?" she said warmly.

"Oh, sorry, I just thought it suited you better."

"I agree," she told me, smirking. I couldn't believe I was talking to this angel.

"So…" I said, abruptly frustrated that I couldn't think what to say to this perfect girl next.

"You just moved here?" she asked me before I could think.

"Yeah, I lived in Phoenix before, and moved here to spend some time with my dad. It's very, err…different."

"You're kidding," she said to me, looking indifferent. "I used to live in Phoenix."

"Really? How long ago was that?"

She looked sad, and I wished I could soothe her.

"A long time ago," she replied quietly.

"What like when you were much younger?"

"Just drop it, okay," she said harshly. I was shocked, the words sounded worse in her musical voice. I couldn't say anything, I felt too guilty. We sat in silence for the rest of the lesson, Bella wouldn't even look at me, and I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to upset her anymore. When the bell rang, she was gone. Fast.

I walked to the centre of the cafeteria to join my new friends. Jessica was whispering to Mike, and Eric and Angela were flirting. That was nice, they should be together. I looked around the room, as subtly as I could. On the furthest table, the Cullens sat, looking as bored and distant as usual. I noticed the difference though, because there were only four Cullens at the table now. Bella was gone. I felt a twinge of guilt, hoping with all my heart that this wasn't to do with my slip up. I hadn't known such a simple question would cause beautiful Bella to be sad.

"Hey dude," Mike said, nudging my elbow, recapturing my attention.

"Hi Mike."

"Jessica said you talked to Isabella Cullen today! Lucky man."

"Bella," I told him.

"Er…okay. So was she nice? I wouldn't know what to say to her!"

"Yeah, she was great." I replied. Something about my tone made him stop talking about her. I thought about her more.

Was Bella okay? Why had her past upset her so much? Most importantly, could I make it better? My head was swimming with thoughts of her as I descended into a deep sleep.


End file.
